Bread--leavened or unleavened--is a staple food in nearly every part of the world. So why is Portland so daggone bad at it? WARNING: Small, grumble-filled rant ahead Market of Choice, a local foodlover's emporium, launched just down the street last week and I was among the throngs who showed up to buy groceries. I noted--with approval--the beautiful tasting gallery of [...]
Babica Hen Cafe Location: Dundee, OR Price to brunch two: $35 or thereabouts There's Breakfast. And then, apparently, there's Not Breakfast. At least that's what it said on the menu at Babica Hen, where Mom and I stopped for brlunch on the way back from Lincoln City. We'd been there for a family weekend and Mom, eschewing the [...]
The waiter calls me “darling,” with a dreamy smile on his face. He’s about 19, with the beginnings of a goatee, an honest-to-god twinkle in his eyes, and the thickest black horn-rimmed glasses I’ve seen outside a movie screen. Huarache sandals, black t-shirt and black jeans, turned charcoal grey by the dorm washing machines. I’m in Studio One, a little breakfast place in [...]
Restaurant website Location: Beaverton (Bethany area) Price to brunch 2: About $30 It’s kind of a truism in Portland that the best eats are downtown, in the Pearl, or over on the east side. Or maybe, in a pinch, out in Lake Oswego. My friends call the western suburbs “foodie hell,” and I’m not sure I’d disagree; you’re more apt [...]
Restaurant website Location: NW, 21st above the Pearl Cost to feed four for dinner: About $125 (plus wine) My colleague was doing Atkins, the low carb thing, and however tasty the bread, she couldn't eat it. So the chef at Wildwood braised some veggies, added a mild vinaigrette and served them as the classiest (and tastiest) crudites I've had in [...]
Review website (Yasmen doesn’t seem to have a site) Location: Beaverton Price to fill up (and I mean fill up) two people: $60 I chatted idly with the Yasmen employees while I waited for Robyn to arrive. “It’s only 7:00 so I guess we’re kind of early?” I asked, gesturing at all the empty tables. Most of my Middle Eastern [...]
"Don't you usually have a PRAAAAY FIX-AAAAAY?" I asked the waiter. He looked puzzled for a minute, then asked, "Do you mean "prix fixe?" he asked, "Yes we do," and he showed me the prix fixe menu ($20 per person for salad or soup, entree and dessert) while I blushed a bit. OK, in most places in the US (outside New York and DC), if you ask for the "prix fixe menu," you'll just confuse them. "Prefix to what? Do you mean an appetizer?" they'll ask, with a little eye roll. If you mispronounce it with long aaaaaaas, they just might get it. Except in Chez Joly, which is the closest thing to a real French bistro I've seen in the great Northwest.
I parked the car about a block away from Eleni's (I was meeting Sara there for dinner), got out and tripped over about a dozen tipsy Santas coming from a rally in the park. I looked around and saw HUNDREDS of Santas, dressed in everything from red Lurex catsuits trimmed with white fur to the real, pillow-bellied deal. What in the world? As I pondered, a lady Santa ran full-tilt into me, grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me, full on the mouth. "MISSELTOE!!!!" she hollered, and handed me a tiny candycane before running to her next victim.
Restaurant website Location: SE Portland Price to fill up two people (with coupon): $40 "I've got a coupon from the Chinook Book," said Robyn, and she read off a list of interesting-sounding restaurants. We decided to try Wild Abandon, mostly because of the name. It was a pretty good choice. Wild Abandon is an unpretentious place with a friendly staff [...]
Dinner theatre website Location: SE Portland (Hawthorne district) Showtimes: Generally Fridays and Saturday nights (make reservations) Cost to fill up (and entertain) two people: $140 plus tip And youse said I don’t got no cultcha. Ahhbviussly, you was wrong. Robyn texted me Friday to ask if I wanted to see who stole her dead husband. I briefly debated sending flowers [...]
